


and forever is a moment away

by writerlily



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: AU, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-28 18:16:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8456770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerlily/pseuds/writerlily
Summary: When he was younger, Richard used to fear death. It terrified him knowing that people could be there one day, then gone the next. Was life so flimsy that it could be taken away in a single moment? 
He lost his parents, his dog; almost everyone in his life had succumbed to the kiss of death.
He was determined to find a way out of it.
He was always ambitious.





	

When he was younger, Richard used to fear death. It terrified him knowing that people could be there one day, then gone the next. Was life so flimsy that it could be taken away in a single moment? 

He lost his parents, his dog; almost everyone in his life had succumbed to the kiss of death.

He was determined to find a way out of it.

He was always ambitious. 

-

_Invincible_.

That's what people would say about himself and Seth. That they thought they were invincible and that nothing could ever hurt them. 

And for a while, it really felt like it. 

Surviving things that they shouldn't have. A missed bullet and the avoidance of a car crash by a millisecond. 

Death couldn't touch them.

-

He finds his loophole out of dying while he's in a bar. There's alcohol and drunk, disgusting men everywhere, and it's somewhere that Richard would usually try to avoid, but _something_ is calling out to him. 

_Come a little closer..._

So he does.

And finds his answer in the form of sharp teeth puncturing his neck and the thirst for blood. 

-

Monster. 

It's what Seth calls him-- or _"dirty fucking culebra"_ on the days that he's really feeling mean. 

But Richard hears something else entirely: 

_Invincible._

-

This is living forever: 

A high of escaping death. A joy in knowing that you will live to see another day. And another. And another. As time stretches out beyond the infinites.

Richard has always loved learning and now he'll get the chance to learn everything. It's such a freeing, exhilarating thought that he forgets-- _almost forgets_ \--

This is living forever: 

Realizing that the people he loves don't share his view on life and death-- realizing that not everyone wants to live forever the way that he does. Realizing that his clock has stopped ticking, while everyone else's carries on.

This is living forever.

-

Seth dies sooner than Richard ever thought he would; dies from a bullet wound to his chest that can't be fixed and Seth refuses-- absolutely, downright rejects-- Richard's suggestion of turning him into a culebra. 

"Let me die while I'm still me," he says faintly, and Richard can practically hear Death laughing at him. _Mocking him_. "In the arms of a beautiful woman," Seth smirks, but coughs painfully, and Kate won't stop-- can't stop crying-- over his body and Richard. He _hates_ this. 

He hates that he's losing his brother, his partner, his best friend; he hates that while he will have another day here on earth, the person he loves most will not. 

Kate's tears splash against Seth, mixing with his blood, and Richard has never hated living more. 

-

This is living forever.

The days pass in a blur and soon enough, Richard forgets the days-- the years even-- as everything melds together. Hours that stretch into the infinite that he so badly wanted. 

-

Kate goes next. 

One of the last ties to his brother and Richard finds that it's just as painful the second time around. 

Losing someone. 

Losing Kate.

It's not a stray bullet, or a freak accident that kills her. It's time itself. And Richard thought they had more of it-- he was so fucking sure that he would have one more day. 

Of Kate rolling her eyes at him. 

Of Seth telling him to shut up. 

He never saw time as death itself, but now he thinks otherwise.

-

This is living forever. 

Finding out that escaping death is not as fun as he thought it would be. He's not as invincible as he thought he would feel. 

He is alone. 

Surrounded by people who don't know him-- who don't care to know him. People who don't know that his favorite drink used to be horchata, or that he liked chicken-- not beef-- tacos. And it's little things and it might seem stupid to fret over but. 

God.

He _misses_ everyone. 

-

The years turn into decades afterwards and it never gets easier-- but he becomes used to it. He becomes used to not expecting Seth to poke his head out from behind a door. He doesn't expect a phone call from Kate. 

And he reminds himself. 

This is what he wanted. 

Invincibility. Immortality. 

-

He doesn't waste another second of the sacrifice he made. 

-

He reads and reads and then reads some more. He travels the world once, then twice, and another few times afterwards. 

And he was right. 

There was so much in the world that his short life span would never be able to cover. 

-

This is living forever.


End file.
